


An Eternal Opera

by ETNMystic



Series: Our Eternity Together [5]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-01-23 03:16:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 15,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18541180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/pseuds/ETNMystic
Summary: Mystic, caught in a downpour, finds herself in a Parisian-esque city and opera house. But with a Parisian opera house, there always seems to be that one stalker phantom. You know, the usual.





	1. A Parisian Downpour

I trekked through the forest for what seemed like years, my feet throbbing within my combat boots and my legs aching. I didn't care, though. Some stupid entity was trying to turn this into a real-life version of Escape the Night. With death, pain, agony, despair, the whole fucking package. But I wasn't about to let that happen. If they wanted to kill my friends, they would have to go through me. 

As the morning turned to high noon, in between hunting for more teastones (which yes, I did find quite a few), I felt the air grow colder around me. Glancing up, I was shocked to see that the sky had also darkened to a gloomy overcast where once stood a sun. There was going to be rain. I could smell it. The next thing I knew, I felt a drop on my head. Then another fell in front of me. And another. And another. Until I felt a tremendous downpour. 

Thunder crackled and lightning struck. Well, at least it seemed that way. I had to squint my eyes to see even a foot in front of me. All I could make out were the quick flashes of light when a bolt struck the ground or a tree in front of me. Fumbling through my bag, I pulled out a stone.

"I wish I was in front of the nearest building that would provide me shelter."

A golden flash enveloped me. Once I had reoriented myself on the ground, I rushed inside and slammed the door shut. My suit was dripping wet and sticking to my skin. My glasses were coated in raindrops, obscuring my vision somewhat, My hair was a sopping mess of dark locks. Overall I felt absolutely disgusting. 

Like a pup, I shook myself, just to get even a tiny amount of water. I took my glasses off, grabbing the shirt to wipe them dry when I remembered that that was ALSO sopping wet. 

"Oh mon Dieu! Est-ce que ça va?" 

It was a woman's voice. I saw a silhouette in a white dancer's outfit rushing towards me. I felt her arm around my shoulders and the next thing I knew, she was escorting me somewhere.

"Ma chérie, c'est dangereux dehors maintenant! Vous devez faire attention dans une telle tempête, surtout avec vos lunettes. Nous devons vous procurer des vêtements secs maintenant!"

I felt quite off-balance, both physically and mentally. Not only was I being escorted to Dieu-sait- où,  I had forgotten a substantial amount of French, even if I had taken two years in high school AND two semesters in college. But who could blame me? That final semester was homework every night, class at ten am every single day, and the professor was gone for a few consecutive weeks. 

"Um, parlez-vous anglais?" I asked hopefully.

"Oui," the figure replied.  
"Pourquoi?"

"Because I've forgotten quite a bit of my French from my classes."

The figure gasped and spoke up in a heavy dialect.

"I'm so sorry! I sought you were a fellow Parisian. Zat assumption was my fault."

"No worries," I shrugged.  
"But by any chance do you have a towel?"

"Ah, non," she sighed before gasping in realization.  
"But I do 'ave zis 'andkerchief!"

Without warning, my glasses were taken from my face. Everything around me was rather blurry, but I saw what looked to be a lot of white or bronze marble with gold lining it. 

"Zere you are, my dear," she announced before placing them back on my face. 

Once I could fully see again, I saw a rather beautiful woman with ebony skin, dressed in a white ballerina dress, white tights, and white pointe shoes. I was rather taken aback by the sheer beauty in front of my face. I lost my breath, my heart fluttering. 

"Are you alright?"

I blinked rapidly. 

"Oh, pardon me," I laughed apologetically.  
"Your beauty......I was just......I got stunned into silence."

She smiled sweetly.

"Merci beaucoup. Zat was very sweet of you to say."

She gave me a twirl and a curtsey.

"My name is Adeline. And you are called?"

"Mystic," I replied automatically.

Hearing this, she gasped and covered her mouth.

"Non," she gasped quietly.  
"Not ZE ETN Mystique. Say it is not so!"

I was taken aback by this response.

"I.....am," I puzzled.

She ushered me over to the large white stairs in a huddle.

"Why, if zis is true," she whispered harshly.   
"Zen you are in grave danger!"


	2. Meanwhile

While Mystic was speaking with Adeline, the rest of the group was on the search. Well, most of them, at least. The writers were busy discussing theories, as this was now like  _Escape the Night,_ with Nora leading the discussion. The agents were contacting allies in the hopes of finding Mystic. And Candy Pop? Still getting left behind as usual, but this time it was deliberate. He was searching rocks and plants, anywhere with dirt, to see if he could find a teastone or two. But he kept coming up empty.

"She must've gotten to them first," he grumbled frustrated. 

"Alice, honey!" Colleen called out for the billionth time.  
"Quit lagging behind. We're not planning on waiting for you."

_Oh my God. Can you just SHUT THE HELL UP?_ he thought angrily.

He didn't bother correcting her, though. He had to make them think he was Alice, at least until he could get out of this body.

_The things I do for these humans._

All of a sudden, he felt a drop of rain. He looked up and, to his surprise, noticed that the sky had turned incredibly dark and gloomy. And then, out of nowhere, a downpour.

_Great. This is EXACTLY what I need right now._

"It's a downpour!" Manny called out.

_No shit, Sherlock!_

All of a sudden, Jael pulled out a rather large umbrella and opened it. It expanded over the entire area where they were, and revealed more of the surrounding area. 

"Does my makeup totally suck now?" Manny fretted.

"Honey, you're fine," Nikita assured him.  
"Water's got nothing on us."

"So where do we go from here?" Ro asked.

Jael gave this some thought. 

"There should be a city nearby with shelter. If I'm right, Mystic might be there."

"Then let's go!" Glozell exclaimed.  
"I don't wanna get soaked anymore than I already am."

"Wait!" Nora called out.  
"I think we've almost got it."

"Got what?" Candy Pop asked hopefully.

"The OTP for this season of  _Escape the Night,_ " Stella tweeted eagerly.

If it was just Candy Pop alone with the writers, he would've strangled them right there and then.

"Can't you use your theory knowledge to figure out this fucking plot line?" he nearly screamed.

"We're writers, not psychics," Ines reminded him.  
"All we can do is theorize. Until we get more info."

"And then?"

"We theorize some more. Wait. You should know this, Alice."

The writers eyed him suspiciously. 

"Why are you acting so clueless?" Taylor questioned.

"What's the OTP for this season?" he argued.

The writers stared at each other, confused.

"Well," Ciel piped up.  
"We managed to pull together quite a few of them. There's HoracexPenelope, SafiyaxMystic, RosannaxMystic."

"AndreaRxMystic," Kasey continued.  
"ShanexTacoBell---"

"That's my OTP," Shane piped up.

"ShanexDumpster."

"Never mind! THAT'S my OTP. Ooh, wait, can we do a three-way?"

"Already got ShanexDumpsterxTacoBell down," Sunny noted.

"Wait. Is it gonna get a fanfic?"

The writers shrugged.

"We do also have 'The Forbidden Ship,'" Taylor piped up.  
"CursedGodxMystic."

"Shh!" Nora shushed harshly.  
"We never speak the name of 'The Forbidden Ship!'"

"Fear of the name only increases fear for the thing itself," Penelope informed them.

"Well, we have good reason to be afraid of that pairing," Montana retorted.  
"If that becomes canon, reality is done for."

"What about EnvyxCalvin?" Candy Pop asked absentmindedly.

Hearing this, the others turned to him.

"Who?" Kasey exclaimed.

"How do you know about Envy?" Safiya eyed him suspiciously.

This is where Candy Pop had his "shit-I-fucked-up" moment.

"I'm not part of the agency, so I know he exists," he blathered out quickly.

"I don't buy it," Taylor growled.  
"I'm starting to think you're keeping secrets from us. In fact, maybe YOU'RE the traitor."

There was a moment of silence before someone spoke up.

"I'm sorry. What?" JC asked.

"Oh, it was a plot point that was brought up, probably, 30 chapters ago," Ines shrugged off.  
"One of us is, apparently, working for the Cursed God and was sent to sabotage us."

"Can we please just go now?" Stella whined.  
"This is just becoming a filler chapter to help enrich a story based off of this one."

Everyone blinked, confused.

"What drugs are you two on?" Erica asked, weirded out.

"And where can I get them?" Dooper wondered eagerly.

"Never mind," Stella huffed as she began to walk ahead.  
"Let's just go."

And the others followed suit.

### Notes:


	3. Entering and THEN Breaking (Not the other way around)

I stared at Adeline with a mixture of fear and confusion. I felt as though I should have been desensitized to that little tidbit that everyone seemed to be telling me, but nope. It kept getting me EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. 

"How?" I gulped scared to know the answer.

"I wish to not tell you," she sighed.

_Well, you brought it up._

"But we 'ave a tenant of zis opera 'ouse. 'e 'as been asking to 'ear you sing for months."

"Don't tell me," I groaned.  
"Is he an Opera Ghost?"

"I'm afraid so."

"So that's putting me in danger how?"

"'E is obsessed wis 'earing your voice. 'E wants to know if it's as good as ze Cursed God claims, but I'm afraid zat if 'e 'ears you sing, you will become 'is obsession, or as 'e says it, ze object of 'is affections. And 'e will stop at nosing to 'ave ze object of 'is affections all to 'imself."

How the hell is any of this still surprising me? 

All of a sudden, I was interrupted by a loud YEET! and someone face-planting on the double doors.

_Dooper, what the actual hell?_

Groaning, I immediately hid. 

"What is it?" Adeline asked.

"It's these people who are trying to find me cuz they don't understand what it means to want to be alone and independent for a change."

She came in close and whispered to me. 

"'Ead into ze stage area to ze left and zen go anozer left. You should find ze ladies' dressing room wis a bas robe. Put it on and zen I will meet you. I will distract zem for you."

Adeline headed towards the doors and opened a little head hole.

"'Allo? 'Ooh is it?"

While they were distracted with her, I got up and snuck out into the stage area.

* * *

"'Allo? 'Ooh is it?" Adeline asked.

Everyone looked at each other in realization.

"Yeah, we're definitely in Paris," Ines confirmed.

"Oui! You are indeed in Paris, France!" Adeline chirped happily, talking both a mile a minute and as slow as a snail.  
"Ozerwise know as ze City of Love! And what a lovely city it is, is it not? I must tell you all zis; you are very lucky ze storm 'as now stopped. Ze scenery 'ere is magnifique. We 'ave a ton of cute little shoppes zat you can explore, wis little trinkets for sale. Oh, and I must insist you go to one of our many cafes, pâtisseries, and boulangeries. As a matter of fact, I strongly suggest you go to one of my favorite places, Aki Boulanger at 16 Rue Sainte-Anne; it is not too far from zis beloved Palais Garnier.  Zey 'ave some of ze best japanese sweets---"

"That's all well and good, but we need to come in," Safiya interrupted in a serious tone.

Adeline was taken aback.

"Mademoiselle, we do not allow early arrivals for ze opera. Ze next show is not until tonight during ze full moon. If you wish, I can see if we 'ave available seats."

"No, I think you misunderstood me. We're looking for someone and we think she may be here."

"Someone? A lady someone, you say? What is 'er name?"

"Mystic," Ro replied.

Adeline pretended to think this over. 

"Mystique.....Mystique.......hmmm. Non, I do not believe I know 'o you are talking about."

There were a few moments of silence as they proc

"Something tells me you're lying to us," Penelope eyed her suspiciously.

"Lying?" she gasped.  
"Mademoiselle, I would never!"

"Where's Mystic?" Nikita spat venomously.

"I 'ave told you already. I don't know 'o you mean!"

Adeline played up the emotion a little.

"Look," Jael spoke up calmly.  
"All we want to do is simply to look around. We're figuring that maybe there's a chance we'll run into her."

Once again, she pretended to think this over.

"Well, if it is a tour you are requesting, zen I can see if I can find a time in ze near future---"

"We don't have that kind of time!" Colleen snapped.  
"We need to get in there now!"

"I cannot get you in 'ere now. We are re'earsing."

"Look, just stop with your petty-ass lies," Nikita hissed.  
"And fucking let us in!"

"Non!" Adeline snapped back, startling them.  
"If you insist on being so disrespectful, zen you cannot enter ze opera 'ouse at all! Au revoir!"

She slammed and locked the hole shut, pretending to walk away but bending down to listen in on their conversation.

_"---kicked us out. Now we'll never get inside!" Stella panicked._

_Jael gave a sound of contemplation._

_"We might be able to. There's a vent shaft that can take us inside. Follow me!"_

As soon as she heard and saw them leave, she knew exactly where it was they were going.

* * *

Adeline shifted through the dusty vent shaft. It wasn't a terribly claustrophobic situation, but she knew that if all of them were inside at once, then hell would break loose.

Soon enough she heard them.

_"---that ballerina woman catches us?" Ines wondered._

_"We'll be fine," Jesse scoffed.  
"She's not gonna wanna get her nice little dress all dirty."_

_"I think we're almost there," Alison replied as they turned the corner to face a smirking Adeline._

"'Allo, les juveniles," she greeted them.  
"I sought I told you to leave."

"Oh shit," Jesse gulped.

All of a sudden, they heard the creak of falling metal and the cracking of it in half. Soon enough, they all landed inside of the ladies' dressing room. They hear a high-pitched scream and a figure darted behind a privacy curtain. Candy Pop charged over to the privacy curtain, preparing to tear it open, but Adeline held him back.

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed angrily.  
"Ze lady ees trying to dress 'erself!"

"We just think----" Candy Pop tried to clarify.

"Non!"

"But if we look---!" Nora defended.

"Non!"

"But that could be---!" Erica steamed.

"NON, NON, et NON!" Adeline snapped, infuriated.  
"Not only 'ave you compromised ze privacy and safety of our performers, you 'ave attempted to break eento ze opera 'ouse, even zough I 'ad told you zat you were not allowed in. And now sanks to your attempt at breaking and entering, you 'ave broken our air vent! Ze managers will be expecting you to pay full compensation for your destruction of property, but until you do, get out!"

"But---" JC blathered.

"MAINTENANT!" she shrieked violently. 

Shaken, the group was led to the doors of the opera house, which were then unceremoniously slammed shut behind them.

 

 


	4. Le spectacle doit continuer

While Adeline rushed the group out, I peeked out from the privacy curtain, the dressing room on, but quickly darted back when I saw one of them turn around. I decided to wait until the footsteps faded before peeking back out. With no one in sight, I breathed a sigh of relief and decided to explore the Dressing Room. 

Mirrors had been placed all around the walls. But there was one in particular that caught my attention; an ornate mirror carved by what seemed to be the Hand of God within its golden framing. However that wasn't what stood out. It was the mirror itself. It looked to have more depth to it, almost as if I could just.....step.....through.....it....

"Mystique!"

Hearing this, I stopped, lowering my foot back down as Adeline gasped.

"Step back!" she warned me.  
"Stay far away from zat mirror!"

Once again, I was utterly confused. And at this point, it might as well have been the title of my autobiography.

"Why?" 

"It is one of 'is windows into our world."

"The Phantom," I clarified.  
"Got it. But I suppose I don't have much to worry about. As long as I don't have to sing---"

From out of nowhere, a scream rang throughout the opera house and another ballerina ran into the dressing room.

"Horreur! Horreur! Tragédie vient de frapper l'opéra!" shrieked a girl of about fourteen, her face pale as snow.

"Jacqueline!" Adeline exclaimed.  
"Qu'est-ce que c'est?"

"C'est le fantôme de l'opéra. Il a blessé Manon! Venir vite!"

The girl, who I assumed was named Jacqueline, ran off with Adeline in toe. Shrugging, I followed suit.

* * *

Reaching the main stage, a calamity had ensued. The ballerinas, singers, conductor, directors, everyone was in a frenzy. And I understood almost none of it.

"Bon sang tout ça!" a woman on the ground snapped snootily, a painted muslin drop, base weight and all over the lower have of her body, as a doctor examined her.  
"Je vais détruire la personne responsable de cette atrocité! Ma robe est en ruine!"

A man who looked to be roughly her age rushed to her side to console her.

"Manon, ma chérie, ne t'inquiète pas, nous pouvons réparer la robe en un rien de temps!" he assured her gently before turning to bark furiously at the others.  
"Qui était responsable de la chute de la mousseline?"  
  
"Je pense que c'était la main de scène!" another ballerina exclaimed.  
  
"Non, il n'était pas là! En fait, il a disparu la nuit dernière," someone else contradicted. 

The woman called Manon was in dramatics over the whole thing, but I guess I couldn't blame her too much. Even if I had trouble understanding them, I could at least tell that there was a sabotage of some kind, and sabotage was a bitch in its own right.  
  
"Oh, Jean-Claude," she sighed lovingly before turning back to her bitchy and entitled personality.  
"Je jouerai dans la série comme d'habitude ce soir, non?"

Jean-Claude turned to the doctor examining her.  
  
"Docteur? Est-ce qu'elle jouera ce soir?"

The doctor was trembling, clearly not wanting to give out the bad news, but---

"Je crains que notre locataire ait une requête contradictoire," a woman with a motherly and mature voice spoke up.

We all turned to see a woman with ebony skin in a black dress stride towards us. Whispers rippled throughout. 

"C'est Madame Montclaude!" they all whispered shocked.

"Que voulez-vous dire?" Jean-Claude demanded angrily.

"Maman!" Adeline gasped fearfully.  
"Nous a-t-il écrit encore une fois?"

Nodding ruefully, Madame Montclaude pulled out an envelope with an opened wax seal and pulled out a letter.

"'E 'as written to us in English zis time," she noted as she unfolded the paper and read aloud.  
"Zere is clearly someone who is lacking in ze French language."

_"Fondest Greetings to You All,  
"I have noticed your opening of your production of 'Le mystère d'Edwin Drood' is scheduled for tonight. Yet, against my prior instructions, you have casted that arrogant toad, Manon Charbonneau, as the lovely ingenue Rosa Bud. I have told you time and time again not to cast her. Neither her voice, her face, nor her personality fit her, she is no ingenue nor can she imitate one. To follow, not only has she overstayed her welcome, but the divas must not flourish in the theatre, especially not my theatre. My instructions remain, even if you have to redo the show in English. Mystic must be the one to play Rosa, no exceptions. Should you dare to deny my demands, your theatre shall be meeting its swift and untimely demise._

_"Most Sincerest Warnings,_

_Your Friendly Neighborhood Opera Ghost."_

Now I understood this perfectly (well, no shit, it was in English) and a chill ran through my spine. I began to debate yeeting myself out of the opera house when Madame BitchyFace spoke up again. 

"Zis is an outrage!" she shrieked.  
"I, not an ingenue? I am ze only one fit to play ze ingenue! Right, Jean-Claude?"

"Of course, ma cherie," he consoled.  
"You shall be on tonight."

Some other stage hands had removed the drop by this time only to reveal that both of Manon's ankles were red and swelling. She tried to stand, only to squeak in pain. 

"My legs!"

"I'm afraid she cannot perform in 'er condition," the doctor sighed.  
"Ze base weight 'as shattered both of 'er ankles."

"I'll perform in a wheelchair!" she insisted.

"Ze stage is not made to 'ave wheelchairs on it, I'm afraid," Adeline informed her. 

"Everyone!" Jacqueline interrupted.  
"We 'ave a bigger problem zen zat! We do not know a Mystique!"

"Zis opera ghost is delusional," another ballerina sniffed.  
"'Ow can we fill a role wis someone we do not even know?"

"Well, we 'ave to fill ze position some'ow," Madame Montclaude sighed.  
"We 'ave important people attending zis performance. Wealsy patrons, dukes, duchesses, even ze King of France 'imself! If we cancel opening, we shall become bankrupt and 'ave to disband entirely!"

This made my eye go wide. So this whole opening night could determine the future of this company? That did change my perspective a bit. But still, danger.

"Maman, no! If we put 'er in ze role, it may put 'er in danger!" Adeline gasped.  
"She is too sweet to become 'is obsession!"

Everyone immediately went silent and turned to Adeline, who realized her mistake. 

 _Fuck,_ I thought.

"If.....of course.....we find 'er," she added sheepishly, hoping no one would notice.

"'Ow do you know what she is like?" Jacqueline interrogated.

Adeline looked like she was going to be sick, and I was still weighing my options. On one hand, I certainly didn't want to put myself in any danger, at least not anymore than I absolutely HAD to, but if I was hearing correctly, then this production could determine whether or not the theatre company would still be standing. I couldn't let that happen. 

_Well, fuck. I gotta do this. Adeline saved my ass from being stalked by the group, after all._

"Because she met me," I confessed reluctantly as I stepped forward.  
"I am Mystic."


	5. The Opera Ghost's Calling the Shots like Britney Spears

At this point, all eyes were on me. With the glares some of them were giving me, I was literally expecting hell to rain down. It took almost all of my consciousness to keep my knees steady, praying that I wasn't going to get my face punched in for all the trouble my name had seemed to cause the company. God, and that silence! It was soul-damning just for its awkwardness alone. I wanted nothing more than to just disintegrate into the air or melt into lava or something! Anything! Hell, even being taken by this Opera Ghost sounded like a much-better alternative to this!

"You......are Mystique?" Jacqueline asked in disbelief.

I pursed my lips, still barely dipping my toe in the waters of this atmosphere, and nodded.

"Yup. I am."

All of a sudden, the ballerinas sorta tiptoed up to me, circling me, scanning me up and down. It felt a bit disturbing, as a chill ran up my spine. 

"Uhhh, can I help you?" I asked awkwardly. 

They didn't answer me, just continued to circle and inspect. This went on for what I assume was about two or three minutes until they backed away. 

"You're a bit different zan I pictured you," one of them remarked, rubbing her chin.

"How did you picture me?" I asked.

"I sought zat you would be........a little bit sinner?"

I blushed at this, feeling a bit ashamed, but if it'd been just me and her, I'd have a mind to tell her off.

"I didn't sink you would 'ave glasses," another replied. 

Well, I guess that's fair. 

"I sought your 'air would be lighter," another added.

"I sought you would be taller," informed another. 

"I sought you'd look older, more mature," another told me.  
"I figured 'e was exaggerating 'ow cute and innocent you looked, mais non. 'E was right."

I huffed at this. I was getting really fucking tired of innocent being the main thing people said about me.

All of a sudden, I heard a sigh of relief from Madame BitchyFace.

"Well zen, if you are Mystique, zen what a relief!" she laughed.  
"I was afraid you were going to be prettier, mais non! You are as ugly as a toad."

I mean, if Madame BitchyFace had some redemption to her, it was her honesty. She thinks I'm ugly and isn't afraid to tell me so. I shrugged it off.

"Sure," I answered apathetically.  
"Whatever. But, unlike you, at least I don't have an ugly heart."

This sent more whispers through the ballerinas and Madame BitchyFace began to turn tomato red.

"You 'ave got some nerve to talk back to me," she growled.  
"Do you know 'Oo I am?"

"Not until now, and thank the Lord for that. I would never want to be acquainted with someone who had such a terrible personality."

She tried to stand up, but found herself whimpering in pain. 

"Jean-Claude!" she squawked.  
"Put zis toad in 'er place!"

He nodded and strode up to me, getting right in my face. I could feel his breath on my nose.

"Listen 'ere, you idiotic girl--!" he began.

"Um, you know," I interrupted calmly yet smugly as I used a finger to push his face away.   
"I WAS considering agreeing to take Manon's place as this tenant suggested. I mean, if it really determines whether or not this company is going to stay alive or not, then I am more than happy to help. But it seems that I'm not wanted here. After all, what Manon wants Manon gets, right? She IS the prima donna, right?"

I mean, okay, I did feel a little bad for using a guilt trip on them, but if it was gonna get Madame and Monsieur BitchyFace to shut up and show some respect, then why not?

"Oui!" she giggled eagerly, clapping like a small, excited, demonic, entitled child  
"Release ze toad into ze swamp."

"Indeed," I replied.  
"Release me into the swamp. I'm sure I'll be nice and safe there with all of my sweet and lovely toady brethren when this theatre meets its end, just as this tenant threatened. And what a shame that would be. Because the rest of you are all perfectly lovely and beautiful people, so to have two people who demonstrate such disrespect drag you down would be such a tragedy, I dare say.  
"And even if you were to hold me captive and force me to go on-stage, yet still allow those two to be absolutely disrespectful to me, then suppose I don't perform well? Suppose I meow during the quiet moments? Suppose I squawk the lyrics in  _Moonfall_ instead of singing them? Or perhaps I say the name of the Scottish play aloud on stage? It would make you look terrible and I'm sure you don't want that, especially when....didn't you say that the King of France himself was going to be coming to Opening Night? I'm sure he would be absolutely infuriated that you would even CONSIDER putting an actress who demonstrated absolutely no discipline in such a prominent role. But perhaps if Manon and Jean-Claude were to, oh I don't know, show me even just the bare minimum amount of respect for a human being, then I just might be persuaded to take on the role."

By this time Madame and Monsieur BitchyFace were fuming tomato-red and, quite literally, quaking.

"Why you........you...," Manon stammered.

"As much as you don't want to admit it," I told her matter-of-factly.  
"If you want to keep being the star here, you NEED me right now. And besides, even if you insist so heavily that you take on the role, you heard what the doctor said. Your ankles are completely shattered. How on earth are you going to perform?"

All of a sudden, we all heard creaking coming from the ceiling. Looking up and squinting my eyes, I saw a door open in the dome-esque ceiling. A figure dressed in black with a cape (of course) stood on a small balcony high up by the chandelier. Everyone else began to scream, but I was more curious than afraid. I could feel someone trying to pull me back, but I stood where I was. Then the figure leaped through the door, leaving almost as fast as he had come. 

"Leave her alone!" a familiar voice exclaimed.

_Candy Pop, are you fucking serious?_

I knew he was trying to find a way in, and I was pissed off about it.

"We 'ave no ozer choice," Madame Montclaude sighed.  
"It 'as been decided. Mystique shall be playing Rosa Bud. Someone give 'er ze script and re'earse ze music wis 'er."

A mixture of excitement and dread filled me as I was taken to the music room. One, I'd be playing a lead, but two, I knew nothing about what this guy was like. Another possibility hit me as well; I could potentially fall in love with him.

And that was what terrified me the most. 


	6. Sneaking In with The Frenchie-French

Hours later a line began to form in front of the Palais Garnier. News of Manon's misfortune and a newcomer's debut had attracted more than the company had anticipated. Part of that company included a small portion of the writers, guests, and agents, who had snatched up tickets from a small group of a baker's dozen in order to get inside the theatre while the other group were going to attempt to sneak in to not only retrieve Candy Pop, but Mystic if possible.

"This feels wrong," Ro lamented as they waited in line in their disguises.

"But it's for a good cause," Penelope assured her.  
"After tonight, we'll have Mystic back."

"We'll be able to keep a closer eye on her," Safiya added.

"You know, have you all considered that maybe Mystic doesn't WANT us stalking her like this?" Dooper asked, genuinely curious.

"Yes, indeed," Penelope sighed.  
"But right now, she's in too much danger. Alright, does everyone have their tickets?"

The other twelve, Dooper, Safiya, Rosanna, Matt, Liza, Sierra, Tyler, Tristen, Manny, Nikita, Alison, and Gabbie, nodded.

"Are you sure we're going to be able to do this?" Gabbie worried.  
"If our accent isn't good enough, we're going to be kicked out."

"Relax," Penelope assured her.  
"If you just remember the nouvellieur Rs, long Es for short Is, no Hs, usually nasal-esque, and the alternate stresses, you'll be fine."

"So then we're screwed," Sierra groaned.

"We're next," Liza whispered.

"Everyone, remember your name," Penelope reminded them as they approached the ticket booth before turning to the ticket taker.

"'Allo. Group of a baker's dozen."

"Names?" the ticket man asked.

"I am Madame Ambre Guillory," Penelope replied without skipping a beat.

Liza was next in line.

"Uh, I am Clémence Bonheur," she replied in a low voice before giggling under her breath.  
"Bonheur."

"Mademoiselle Marie Roux," Sierra introduced calmly and flawlessly.

"'Umbert Sauvageot," Dooper attempted, ending with a "hon hon hon baguette croissant."

"Mademoiselle Florette Villeneuve," Gabbie huffed, 110% done with Dooper at this point.

"Monsieur 'Ercule Poirot," Matt greeted warmly.

"Guillaume D'aramitz," Tyler struggled.

"Manuel Langlais," Manny replied.

"Mademoiselle Caroline Rousseau,"  Safiya informed.

"Émilienne Fortier," Tristen announced.

"Christine Rose," Ro replied shyly.

"Juliette St Martin," Alison asserted.

"And I," Nikita declared.  
"Am Mademoiselle Philomène Ulysse Sylvaine Sévérine Yverneau."

The ticket taker looked over the bunch and nodded. 

"Enjoy ze show," he replied boredly.

They snuck on past and inside.

"This is quite a musical," Matt geeked out.  
"The true ending was never written, meaning that the audience gets to decide who the killer is!"

Meanwhile two comrades were having a different sort of conversation.

"Bitch, you picked the longest and most extra name in the world," Manny whispered.  
"This is strange, even for you. Why the hell did you have 3 middle names?"

Nikita smiled and winked at him.

"Innuendo's in the name, honey."

As they headed to their reserved box, Manny was confused. 

"Philomène Ulysse Sylvaine Sévérine Yverneau," He repeated as he sat next to her.  
"I don't see how that has any---"

Just as the lights began to dim, it clicked.

"Oh, you clever bitch!" he cackled quietly. 

* * *

 

I sat in the dressing room, exhausted after going through all of the blocking, singing, lines. I felt like I'd just pulled an all-nighter for an exam. Luckily, I was allowed to look over the script in between scenes. 

The ballerinas fawned over me, complimenting me, as they prepared me in makeup, hair, and even the costumer was sweet and was altering the costume to fit me. Needless to say, I was blushing constantly.

"'Just look at ow adorable she is!" one of the ballerinas gushed.  
"Look at zat little button nose."

"Oh, and zose cute little cheeks," another cooed.

"What about 'er doe-like eyes?" another squealed.

"Non, it's ze way she gets so embarrassed at our compliments," a fourth argued as she curled my hair.  
"'Er cheeks are glowing red."

I know I said I was tired of those kind of compliments, but hey. I'm not gonna say no if they're in good taste.

"Why do you avoid ze mirror, ma cherie?" Jacqueline wondered.

I shrugged.

"I just don't find myself pretty at all."

Immediately they gasped as if a kitten had been murdered.

"Non! Non, non, non!" one refused.  
"Zat is wrong. Do not listen to Manon. She is ze toad, not you!"

"You are an angel," the second told me.

"Your cheeks are ze cheeks of God's cherubs," agreed a third.

All of a sudden, a stage manager and the costumer opened the dressing room door.

"Twenty to places," the stage manager announced.

"Merci vingt," I replied. 

A few moments later, the ballerinas stepped back.

"What do you sink?" 

I took a good look and blushed. I actually felt beautiful and I looked it.

"Thank you," I gasped.  
"I look absolutely gorgeous. You're all so talented."

I went to each ballerina and enveloped them in a hug, I could hear a chorus of "aww" each time.

"So adorable!"

"So precious!"

"Alright, alright," Jacqueline laughed.  
"I sink zat is quite enough. Let's let our star relax."

They left me to contemplate my life choices. I kept looking around the dressing room, when a strange voice caught my attention.

_Mystic......._

I whirled around, frightened.

"H-hello?" I asked thinly.

_Mystic.......look into the mirror._

Shrugging I turned towards the vanity mirror I'd been facing for about half an hour.

_No.....look to your right...._

Cautiously, I did and I saw a white wispy spiral, covering my reflection of me in a white gown.

_Nervous, my dear?_

The voice was suddenly calming to me now, I began to let my guard down, nodding.

_You have no need to be. Your voice is a gift from the Angels of God._

Blushing I turned away.

_Come now.....you and I both know it's true._

"But my friend......."

_She too was gifted a voice from the Angels of God. But you are not her. And she is not you. You both are angelic singers, but tonight, **you**  are the star. _

I nodded, entranced by the spiral.

_And after this, we shall finally meet._

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door and I snapped out of trance. 

"Mystique?" Adeline's voice echoed through the door. 

Rushing over I opened it.

"Fifteen to places."

I nodded before shutting the door. Just then I heard another knock coming from the privacy curtain. Startled I cried out before a figure peeked out, smirking. 

And this time I had a feeling I wasn't getting away that easily.


	7. Curtain Call Catastrophe

"YOU!!??" I exclaimed as Candy Pop emerged from behind the privacy curtain.  
  
His expression turned to fear as I turned to call out for Adeline.

“Wait-!!” he stammered.

“ADELI-!!”

Before I knew it the jerkass had his fingers over my mouth. I tried to bite them, but he had placed them perfectly so that I couldn't bite them or call out.

_Rude!_

“ **Wait.** Just hear me out, okay?"

_Do I have a choice right now?_

"I’m not planning on sticking around where I know I’m not wanted, but I couldn’t find any of those handy Wish stones of yours anywhere on the Path to Paris, which means that either you’ve got ‘em all, or they’re a lot more scarce than I was led to believe-“

_Oh my God. THIS again?_

Turning around, I rammed my hand straight into his chest, sending him flying backwards. First the asshole tried to break and enter into my treehouse, then he tried to break and enter into a house I was staying in, and now he tried TWICE to break and enter into the Ladies' Dressing Room. All for what? The teastones that I specifically wished to only be useable by me?

“I told you to leave me alone!!”

I was full to the brim with venom for this douchebag. 

“I know-“

“THEN WHY ARE YOU HERE!!??”

_I don't want any bullshit in your answer either._

“BECAUSE I’M DESPERATE!!”

I was shocked. He did sound pretty desperate, or was that just his yelling? Probably the latter.

"And why should I care…?” I huffed.

“…Do you think I’m the traitor?” he blurted out.

_At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if you were._

“Hm. I don’t know!" I answered sarcastically.  
"Do you think the fact that you’re a fucking Demon is proof enough!?”

He got up and rubbed his head.

“You all just accept that without question," he panted.  
"But I’m telling you it’s not me!”

“Yeah, I highly doubt that," I huffed as I folded my arms. 

He seemed to accept defeat because he got up and sighed, but I had to be prepared.

“You want me gone then, right?” he sighed.

_NOW you understand!?_

“That would be stating the obvious, yeah…” I replied bitterly.

Suddenly he held out his hand to me. What the hell's that supposed to be? Some kind of Demon Peace Offering?

“If you just let me have one wish, I’ll leave this place entirely, and you will never, ever have to deal with me ever again! Ever."

I was incredibly skeptical by this deal. See, the reason I'd kept him in there was because we needed help. But now.....

“Really?" I asked incredulously.

“Yes, really," he promised with desperation in his eyes,

“-And why can’t you find somebody else to help you again?”

I could tell I'd pushed him to his limits. Again.

“I just said-!!”

All of a sudden, the door opened.

“Mystique?” Adeline called out gently. 

I breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped inside of the dressing room only for her gentleness to turn to fear and anger.

“What is all of zis!? And who are you!?” she demanded, pointing to Candy Pop

"Well?" I sniffed at Candy Pop.  
"Are you going to tell her?"

I could tell that he was shocked beyond speech. His mouth tried to form words, but it didn't work.

"No? Then I suppose I shall."

I turned back to Adeline.

"She was a friend of mine, but she doesn't seem to understand the meaning of 'personal space.' But we had a little chat,  **and she was**   **just about to leave.** "

I glared at him with those last words with my teeth clenched shut. Adeline took a closer look and gasped angrily.

"I recognize you! You were ze pervert trying to look at ze changing lady earlier today!"

I saw a look on his face, one of frustration, as if to say "come on. we both fucking know who that lady was!"

"That wasn't what I was---"

"Don't try to weasel your way out of zis! Get out of ze opera 'ouse, or I'll 'ave to force you out!"

She grabbed ahold of him by the back, carrying him out.

"This isn't over, Mystic!" he yelled as he struggled against her.   
"I _will_ get what I came for."

 _That'll_ _be the day,_ I thought as I rolled my eyes.

* * *

The show went on pretty much without a hitch. I got a lot of applause for  _Moonfall_ and I felt kinda confident about it. They'd switched to English, but projected French subs. All the while, I kept the bag of teastones tucked under my dress. Then curtain call. 

Each one of us stepped forward for our bow. When it was my turn, the audience roared and applauded. But then I heard from the boxes.

"Yas Mystic! Work it, queen!"

_Nikita!_

How the hell did they sneak in? I thought that Adeline had kicked them out! Couldn't they understand that I wanted to be independent for a change? Like, what the actual fuck? I tried to hide my anger as the actor playing Jasper took his bow. Once we were all done, the curtain was supposed to go down, but from out of nowhere, the theatre turned pitch black.

Panic ran rampant through everyone. Screams from every corner. But then a familiar voice spoke up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, and all the rest!"

Everyone fell silent. 

_What the hell? I recognize that voice!_

"There's been a slight change in plans. For you see, we have another mystery at our disposal. And once the lights are back on, it shall be your job to solve it and uncover who I am."

Whispers of panic and confusion, but even some of excitement, thinking it was part of the program. As the voice kept talking, I noticed that it was getting closer to me, so I tried to stumble around in order to get away.

"But beware, the Coven has arrived. And they are well-disguised. Who knows who is a member of the Coven of Everlock? It could be your brother, your sister, your friends, anyone. Bonus points to anyone who is killed by the High Priestess!"

I heard a psychotic cackle.

"However one of you will not be partaking in the search. For you see, I've been waiting for the moment we finally met. And now the time has come!"

All of a sudden, I felt an arm wrap around me from behind; immediately I scream and struggle.

"Let go of me, you jerkass! I'm warning you. I took 2 years of karate, and I'll shove my foot up your ass so hard, you'll be fucking a Mary Jane for weeks until you shit it out!"

I felt another hand pet my hair.

"Do you have a death wish, buddy? If you don't, then get your fucking hands off of me!"

I smelled something sweet; Chloroform. Because what else would he use?

"Everyone! This isn't part of the show. My name is Mystic and I'm being kidn----!"

I was cut short by a rag to my face. I struggled, kicked, elbowed, anything, but I was becoming drowsier and blacking out. 

And then, silence.


	8. Hope Bagel of the Opera?

Matt and the others heard her screaming before she fell silent. They tried not to imagine the worst, but they couldn't help otherwise. Just before the lights back on, they heard the voice again.

"I also suggest being careful in regards to who you trust; those in the Coven can transform into anyone. But there is a prize for those who solve it; a treasure. If you do not solve the crime before sunrise, you'll all be trapped here forever and the treasure shall be mine for all eternity. Good luck."

Panic re-ensued, but now in light. The first thing the group noticed was the absence of a writer/actress from the stage.

"Mystic!" they exclaimed frightfully.

The thirteen of them ran out into the hallway to find Alice, along with the rest of the writers, agents, and guests, being carried inside by giant goons in masks. Once they flung them down on the floor, they went over and padlocked the doors. The group also heard a click from the outside as patrons began to run amok in a panic, slamming themselves against the locked doors and goons.

"This isn't good!" Sierra squealed.  
"What now?"

"We need to find Mystic," Penelope exclaimed.

"She's just gonna hiss at us again," Alice grumbled.  
"The girl's got the stubbornness and will of a tiger."

"Not this time. The second I see her, I'm going to hypnotize her into coming back with us."

"It's not going to work."

"You clearly underestimate my skill."

"People, please," Ines huffed.  
"We only have until sunrise to find this 'treasure.'"

"Why are you set on finding the treasure, dumbass? We need to find Mystic!"

She folded her arms.

"Mystic IS the treasure, dumbass!"

* * *

As my consciousness arose from a slumber, I felt the heat of a warm fire and blankets. On top of it all, I felt a hand gently stroke my head.

Wait a second.

I shot up and, regretfully, I turned to the left to see a man with silver, wayward hair, a white mask covering half of his face, but through it, I saw familiar grey eyes.

_No, it can't be. Is it?_

"Hello, dear," he purred, his voice gentler, but in a creepy and seductive way.

I nearly shrieked. 

"What the hell are you doing? I thought you died through that murder-suicide spiel!"

"Ah," he chuckled.  
"That was merely one version of me."

"So you're Nagito Komaeda, the Phantom?"

"No," he chuckled again.  
"Not Nagito, not any longer. I have to blend into the Parisian lifestyle. I am now Gautier Descôteaux, and you are Nadine, my treasure, soon to be Nadine Rose Descôteaux."

Once again, confusion struck me.

"I'm sorry. What?"

"Didn't Adeline mention me? The tenant?"

"YOU'RE the tenant? YOU'RE what's been terrifying the opera house?"

"Terrifying," he chuckled.  
"You make it sound so......menacing. I prefer the term 'keeping watch over.'"

While he was speaking, I tried to get out of the bed, but found myself tied down. He chuckled again.

"You're so adorable, Nadine."

"My name is Mystic!" I exclaimed furiously.

"You can't leave here. Even if you could, it'd be in your best interest to not want to."

"And why is that?"

"Because, as I said, the Coven is here, and they're looking for you."

He approached me again and began petting me like a kitten. I shivered in disgust and fright.

"Think about it, ma cherie. Is it really such a terrible thing? I give you protection from them and in return, you become my bride."

_Yeah, no, that sounds pretty fucking bad._

"And if I don't want to?" 

"You have no choice. Either you become their vessel or my bride. And I would really prefer that you avoid the former."

I mean, I did as well, but marry this dude in exchange?

"My friends will find me, and when they do---"

He chuckled as he got up walking over to a large mass covered by a sheet, which I somehow only just noticed.

"This is far below the opera house, my dear Nadine. They have no chance of finding you, and even if they do, I'm prepared. For if I can't have you---"

He pulled off the sheet and my jaw nearly dropped. Under that sheet were barrels of gunpowder, sticks of dynamite, and explosives by the truckload.

"Then no one can."


	9. A Second Plus a Traitor?

Immediately after hearing that, Penelope ran off, the others following behind her, until they ran into Adeline who was rushing off towards the dressing rooms.

"Adeline!" Penelope cried.  
"We need your help."

"Why should I 'elp you?" she sniffed.

"Because Mystic's been taken, duh!" Candy Pop exclaimed. 

"Um, should we REALLY be trusting her?" Gabbie quivered.  
"You guys heard what that crazy dude said about the Coven, right?"

They all looked at each other fearfully.

"It's our best bet right now," sighed Sierra.

"Listen," Penelope explained.  
"I know you don't like us---"

"Zat is an understatement," she replied coldly.

"But I know you like Mystic and want her to be safe. Right now, she's not safe."

"Do you sink I don't know zat?" she snapped back.  
"I was on my way to rescue 'er myself."

"You? Going up against that crazy bastard by yourself?" Nikita scoffed.  
"Honey, be realistic."

"It's better if we come with you," Safiya told her.

All of a sudden, they heard a loud boom as the doors flung off their hinges, hitting several patrons in the heads. In walked a tall, dark, and handsome man along with a few clowns and other goons.

"Where is she?" he growled.

"'Ooh is zat?" Adeline gulped, her eyes growing in fear.

"The Cursed God, dumbass!" Ines huffed.  
"Do you really not know who he is?"

"I do, but I 'ad never seen 'im in person."

"I mean, that's fair," Stella resigned.  
"I'd probably have done the same thing."

"So where do we go to find her before either the Cursed God or the Coven do?" Montana asked her.

She took some time to think about this, all the while Candy Pop was getting impatient.

"I mean," Taylor interjected.  
"Do we really have to go save her? Can't she save herself?"

"Not in this scenario," Tana argued.  
"This is some dangerous shit."

"But what if he starts following us?" she retorted.

"Maybe we could split up and, like, hope he doesn't pick the---" Eva suggested.

"I mean, that could work," Timothy overlapped.

"Yeah, I think we should split up," Joey agreed.

"Oh my God," Sierra squealed fearfully.  
"Splitting up is never a good idea, okay?"

"I'm in the same boat as she is," Tristen exclaimed.  
"Splitting up can only lead to death."

"How much time do we have?" Lele asked.

"Until the sun comes up," Andrea Brooks replied.

"I mean, it doesn't really matter if we split up or not," Tyler piped up.  
"If one of the tokens is here, which it likely is, someone's gonna die regardless."

"Yeah, but shouldn't we at least try to minimize the amount of casualties?" Matthew Haag asked.

"Okay, maybe we could send one group to find the token," Lauren suggested.  
"And the other goes to find Mystic, so we're getting both tasks out of the way."

"But then what if someone in the group dies?" Alex argued.  
"How's the other group gonna know?'

"Guys, we don't have time to argue!" Gabbie exclaimed.  
"Let's just stick together and find Mystic. Then we'll deal with the tokens. Where the hell is she?"

"Ze dressing room," sighed Adeline.  
"I did not want to do zis, but we 'ave to go srough ze mirror to get to 'er."

* * *

They barged into the dressing room before slamming and barricading the door shut. 

"Is everyone inside?" Mortimer asked.

"Yeah, I think so," JC answered.

"If they're stuck out there, that's on them," Nikita rolled her eyes.

"Wait, guys," Taylor gasped.  
"Remember what that dude said earlier about the Coven?"

"You mean, the thing I brought up like five fucking minutes ago?" Gabbie scoffed.

Taylor nodded.

"What if.......what if one of us is a Coven member in disguise?"


	10. Which Mass, My Dear?

Silence fell on the room as the group glanced anxiously at one another, unsure of how to respond. But thankfully Stella broke the silence.

"One of us? A coven member?" she laughed nervously.  
"You're joking, right?"

Taylor shook her head.

"It may not even be just one of us," she trembled.  
"There could be multiple people."

"Then let's just kill them," Timothy exclaimed. 

"But how do we know who _is_ in disguise, if that's the case?" Colleen questioned. 

"I think they'd probably be acting Very Fucking Differently than how they usually act," Taylor theorized.

The group slowly turned to Candy Pop.

"Oh sure," he groaned sarcastically.  
"Go for the black sheep of the group. That...that's real fucking nice of you!"

"It's not out of the question," she argued.  
"You're the one who's been acting the strangest out of us all."

"But Alice was acting strangely BEFORE this happened," Nora defended.  
"If she'd been taken over by a coven member, then wouldn't she be acting even stranger?"

"That's a good point," Stella agreed. 

"Fine," Taylor sighed, reluctantly conceding.  
"She may not be a coven member in disguise, but she could still be the traitor sent by the Cursed God. Until I see proof otherwise, I refuse to believe any different. So then, with that out of the way, who among us do you suppose is in disguise?"

"Okay, I don't know about the rest of you," Teala exclaimed.  
"But I just want to find Mystic and get the hell out of here."

"But then we'll need to find the token as well," Shane reminded her.

"Screw the token. I just want my friends safe."

"Mystic's not gonna BE safe if we don't find the token, though," Roi pointed out. 

"But she's not gonna be safe if she's with some crazy dude either," she argued.

"Guys?" JC's voice called out surprisingly echoey.

Everyone turned to find that he had stepped through the mirror.

"What the hell are you doing?" Justine exclaimed shocked.

"That French lady said we had to go through the mirror to find Mystic," he shrugged.  
"So let's just go."

They looked at one another.

"Should we really?" Lisbeth cautioned.  
"Going through mirrors is kind of a sketchy deal."

"Well what other choice do we have?" Eva asked.

And one by one, they stepped inside.

* * *

Meanwhile, I was still tied down to the bed as Nagito--oh, I'm sorry; Gautier--was going through various wedding gowns.

"Now, I didn't really like the style of the dress when I saw it," he told me as he went through the, probably, thirty-seventh dress.  
"But it came with this rose crown that I thought you would like, so it was a good pick."

He took out a crown of white roses (of course it's white) and placed it on my head. Fun fact about me? For the most part, I hate trying on new clothes, and being with this creepy dude wasn't making it any more enjoyable. I shook the crown off of my head. 

"Could you at least PRETEND to enjoy this?" he sighed.  
"I stole all of these lovely dresses just for you, Nadine."

"Don't call me that," I snapped.

"Why not? That's going to be your name from now on."

"I don't want to be Nadine. I want to be untied."

"If I untie you, then you'll try to escape, and if you try to escape...."

He gestured towards the pile of explosives. Feeling defeated I sighed.

"Now THIS dress," he continued as he shuffled through the pile.  
"Is one that, believe it or not, I didn't steal, but I DID copy the design of it. It's from Novoselic. If my friend Sonia were here, she would've been ecstatic to hear that you chose to wear a dress from her country, especially on a day so special as our wedding will be."

I tried to tune him out, as my head was starting to throb from all of this wedding talk. Why were so many people trying to tie me down? Why couldn't I just simply be set free? Tears started to form in my eyes. I laid back down and covered myself with the blankets.

"Oh, my sweet Nadine, please don't be like that," he replied softly as I heard him approach me.  
"I promise that I'll never hurt you, and you'll live a very happy life should you choose to live with me."

"And yet you're gonna bomb the fuck out of this place if I don't?" I cried muffled through the sheets.

"I must."

"You  _must_?"

"It's for the greater good," he sighed.

"What greater good?"

"Hope, of course."

Hope, of course.

Of fucking course. This is Nagito "Hope Bagel" Komaeda we're talking about. But I still didn't understand how the fuck blowing up the opera house was supposed to bring hope to anyone. And that's exactly what I asked next.

"The people will realize just how much talent can blossom in a new opera house. New talent means new potential and new potential means new hope. And when you and I die together, in each other's arms, they'll also see just how powerful love is: that it even goes beyond the grave. And they'll construct a new opera house in _our_ honor, the king and queen of hope. Don't you want to be a queen, Nadine?"

"I want to eat a bowl of rusty nails," I grumbled.

He looked at me as though I'd gone insane.

"Rusty nails don't sound hopeful at all, ma cherie. In fact they sound like.....like...."

He leaned in and whispered.

"Like despair."

He shivered in fright and disgust.

"That word shall never be uttered again. Only hope and love. Love is its own kind of hope, you know? Love is the hope that you and someone else can share your lives together. Love is a promise made by sweethearts to last a lifetime, and beyond then, eternity itself. Love is a drug, but a drug that is absolute good, as is anything created out of hope. And yet, love is also a double-edged sword, for if that love should disappear from one, the heart of the other pines for that sensation once again, causing that emptiness that creates what I shall not name."

"So then me being alive would cause---?"

"Not even remotely, my darling."

That was quick.

"You being alive is also true hope. Your singing voice puts you at the level of Ultimates. The Ultimate Songbird, if you will. I am merely your stepping stool to greatness, and yet being so fills me with such hope. Because I wish to see you ascend to the rank of an angel, be it in talent or in death. Because in Heaven I know you will stand with the choir of angels, praising whatever deity brought us onto this planet, that created the first spark of hope for this planet, for us, for our future. And.....you'd also give me some comfort in my last moments."

This was shocking for me to hear, even from someone like Nagito.

"Last moments?"

He nodded sadly.

"Even though I have entered into a new form, my illnesses haven't gone away. The cancer in my body has progressed, metastasized, and the dementia is deteriorating my mind every passing moment. I spoke with an underground doctor last month. He told me my prognosis is a year or two at best. It's the worst luck, to be sure.  
"But then.....you arrived. You are the good luck that balanced all of this out. Just imagine. Waking up to my hopeful little songbird's call in her golden cage beside me is pure hope and ecstasy. You could help slow the metastasis with your beautiful voice. I would even forget my own dementia. What an irony, isn't it? To forget what is making you forget. To hear you sing as I die would help me leave this world feeling such intense hope that even Hell can't extinguish it."

"A year or two....so that means...?"

Gautier nodded once more, sadly.

"You'd only have to be my bride until I die. Then this opera house and the money I've saved would go to you."

"Why don't you use that money to treat yourself?"

"I've accepted my place in this world as a lowly, stupid, insignificant scum of a human being who will amount to nothing. The money I have shouldn't be wasted on me. It should go to someone who can be a symbol of Hope. And you are one such person.  
"So, my dear, you must choose; the wedding mass or the requiem mass?"

"I'm afraid that she won't be making either choice," a voice purred. 

Perking up and peeking over the sheets, I nearly fainted when I saw a group of about a dozen women dressed in black gowns and one woman wearing a fancy headdress.

"The coven," I gasped.


	11. The One Where I'm So Done With My Own Shit

"Well," the woman in the headdress declared in a Southern dialect.  
"You're just as idiotic as ever. Why you kept her down here nice and imprisoned for us."

"Stay back, Evanora," Gautier growled.  
"I won't let you have my bride."

"And we won't let you have our vessel," Evanora replied.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed frustrated.  
"Just give me the fucking match already."

The two sides stopped arguing and stared at me.

"What?" both Gautier and Evanora puzzled.

"It's the same damn thing," I huffed.  
"I go somewhere new and a new fucking person or group wants me for something. I get away, but this time to get a token someone's gonna have to die, and then that has to happen five more damn times! I'm becoming a Mary Sue. This world is shaping itself around me and I'm fucking sick of it. I swear to God, if someone was writing this as a stupid, super-drawn-out story to live through me, I would fucking deck them in their face the second I laid eyes on them! So if you don't mind, unless you have the next fucking token of Everlock, give me the match for the dynamite, Komaeda! I'm gonna fucking end this bullshit!"

"I....do have the token," he replied as he put his hand in his pocket before pulling it out. It had a Phantom mask engraved in it.

"Great, now fucking give it to me."

"Why should he?" Evanora scoffed.  
"Someone has to die for you to earn it. And by becoming the vessel, you'll do just that."

"Oh no you don't!" a new voice emerged.

I wished that I had something hard to hit my head against as the guests, writers, and agents came rushing inside. Because they can't seem to follow directions.

"Mystic! You're safe!" Nora and the others exclaimed as they rushed over to the bed.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" I nearly screamed, especially when I saw Candy Pop.  
"I told you all to leave me the fuck alone!"

I held out my hand to Komaeda.

"Give me the token, then give me the match."

"What the hell is Nagito doing here?" Nora sputtered.  
"He's supposed to be dead."

"Yes," Not-Alice scoffed.  
"Because  **THAT** 's the reason it shouldn't be possible for him to be here."

"Give me the fucking token and then the match."

"What do you need a match for?" Andrea R asked.

I gestured to the gun powder.

"Listen, once I get this token, Saf's gotta take it and y'all gotta run."

"With you, right?" Lauren trembled.

I shook my head.

"It's the only way to end this cycle of me being a stupid fucking Mary Sue character who everyone wants, but no one tries to kill--!"

"Well, screw you too!" one of the witches in the coven spat.  
"Oh, by the way, whichever one of you Jadis transformed into can come out now."

Transform? There was silence as we waited for someone to betray us. 

"Fine," she sighed.  
"Be that way, Jadis."

She muttered under her breath.

"You stubborn bitch."

"We are NOT leaving without you, Mystic," Joey exclaimed.

"Well, you're gonna have to."

Penelope stepped forward.

"I think I can change that in a snap," she smirked.

I'd like to mention what I call an "oh-shit" moment. It's when you realize shit's about to go down. Within the span of 2 minutes, I had 3, and this was when I had my FIRST **oh-shit** moment in these catacombs.

"Oh hell no!" I exclaimed.  
"You are NOT hypnotizing me!"

Gautier/Nagito jumped in between us.

"Kirumi?" he asked genuinely surprised.  
"What are you doing here?"

Hearing this, Penelope gasped.

"How _dare_ you compare me to such a lowly and irrelevant maid!"

_I mean, she died trying to protect her country, but go off, I guess._

"I will NOT let you take my precious Nadine away from me!" he snarled.

"Why are you so obsessed with me being named Nadine?" I huffed, close to tearing my hair out.

"Probably because the name is French and it means 'hope,'" Sierra pointed out.

I froze as this ran through me. How had I not realized it sooner? It was like this dude was sexually and romantically attracted to hope.

"Oh, you clever son-of-a-bitch!"

"That's child's play," Nikita scoffed.  
"Wait until you hear what name I used to get inside of this opera house."

"Why use a name when you have magic to get you in?" a voice cackled.

There was my second  **oh-shit** moment. In enter the Cursed God with his army. Of course. 

"Took us long enough," the Killer Clown Leader continued as literally every single creature, except for Calvin who was probably making out with Envy, swaggered inside alongside the Cursed God.  
"But we're here to get who we came for."

"Over my dead body!" Nagito growled.

All of a sudden, Ciel ran out of the throng and snatched the token out of Nagito's hand as he was distracted.

"Alright, Ciel!" Dooper exclaimed as he pumped a fist in the air.

"Now no one has to die for that!" Kasey gasped excitedly.

"Oh no," Ciel smirked.  
"Someone still has to die for this."

And there went my third  **oh-shit** moment.

All of a sudden, Ciel began to convulse and shake before dropping to the ground. Standing above them was a woman dressed in a black gown, a coven member.


	12. The Reveals

"Took you long enough, Jadis!" that one witch huffed.  
"You sure do like to give this coven hell, don't you?"

"I wasn't sure if you meant it or not," she sniffed.

"Liar."

"Okay, why did she just sound EXACTLY like me?" Colleen squeaked.

All of a sudden, one of the other witches gasped.

"You three?" she exclaimed.  
"You're workin' for him?"

As Rosanna came over to the bed to untie me, the three witches stepped forward.

"Duh," they replied in unison.

"Why would we want to be a part of that old-fashion shit show?" Debra rolled her eyes.

"You broke your family's legacy," Evanora announced.

"Screw that stupid legacy," Belle scoffed.  
"We're making our OWN legacy."

"By working for HIM?" Jadis pointed out as Ro undid the final knot.

"It's a better gig than having to do some stupid ritual every full moon."

"And yet your missions rarely succeed," Evanora pointed out before turning on Candy Pop.  
"Oh by the way, how are you enjoying your new body, Candy Pop?"

I saw his face turn paler than pale itself.

"Who?" he squeaked.

"Don't play innocent," she told him.  
"We all know who you are. After all, we were the one who put you there in the first place."

"I knew you were a traitor," Taylor hissed.

"No wait," he exclaimed.  
"It's not what you think!" 

"Save it," Tristen snapped.  
"No one wants to hear it."

"Where's Alice?" Calliope demanded Evanora.

"We took her out of this world for a time," she explained.  
"But now that we've sufficiently kept her blinded from most of the truth, we'd be willing to give her back, in exchange for our vessel."

"Excuse me!" the Cursed God and Nagito snarled.  
"That 'vessel' is my bride."

They then glared at one another.

"I think we should at least give them a fair chance at getting this token," Jadis suggested.  
"It'd only be fair."

Evanora took some time to think about this.

"Very well."

Jadis clapped with delight.

"I've always wanted to host one of these," she squealed before switching to a somber voice.  
"In order to get this token, you must vote two people--"

"Into the challenge," the other writers finished in sync.

Jadis was taken aback briefly.

"Um, yes. And then those two---"

"Must pick a partner to aid them."

"Right. But remember, two will go in, but----

"Only one will survive."

"WILL YOU MORTALS LET ME FINISH?" she screamed.

*insert the vine of the kid saying "Jesus Christ."*

"Anyway, two will go in, but only one will survive. We'll go set up the challenge. You wait here and deliberate."

And away they went, surprisingly taking the monsters and Komaeda with them.


	13. Let's be honest. None of us would be prepared if we were in "ETN."

As soon as they left, we all stood around in silence for a few moments, trying to figure out what the everloving fuck to do.

"Well," Destorm piped up causing me to jump, I didn't even realize he was there.  
"Tell us, writers. Who are we gonna vote in?"

They just stared in scared silence.

"That includes you, Mystic."

All of a sudden, we heard a gasp coming from Ciel. Ro and I rushed over and helped them up.

"Are you okay?" Ro asked.

"Y-yeah," they groaned sleepily.  
"What happened?"

"You were possessed by a member of the Coven," I told them.

They stared at me, confused.

"Coven? What Coven?"

They then looked around and saw Candy Pop.

"Why am I looking at myself?" they shrieked.

I had to do a double take to make sure I was seeing right.

"Alice?" I exclaimed in absolute disbelief.  
"Is that you?"

"Who else would I be?" she asked trembling.  
"But why am I looking at myself?"

_That means Ciel's spirit's probably wandering now._

"Oh thank God!" Candy Pop sighed in relief.  
"You gotta get me out of your weak little body, kid. I could take down the Cursed God in a second if you do. Please!"

Alice just sat up in Ciel's body, confused.

"Are we still in Horace's house? Where is he?"

We all pursed our lips as Penelope gave out a hurt little squeak.

"Should we tell her?" I heard Kasey whisper.

"No, not yet," I shook my head.  
"We'll tell her later."

I had to make sure she was satiated.

"Um, we got out of there," I explained gently.  
"We're in the catacombs of an opera house right now and we have to vote two of us into a challenge to get the second token of Everlock."

"Oh finally! We're actually getting around to that? About time!"

I helped her up to her feet.

"Yeah, there's only one problem," Nora cautioned.  
"Someone's gotta die for it."

It took her a minute to process this.

"So we are---" Alice began slowly.

"Pretty much," Stella answered.

"Oh," she replied.  
"We're in major trouble, huh?"

I nodded.

"So who do we vote in?" Glozell approached us.

"Why are you asking us?" Kasey exclaimed panicked.

"You write and make edits about this shit all the time," Nikita answered.  
"So you should know about this shit."

"We just fangirl/boy/person over the shit," Hazel cried.  
"We know it theory but not in practice!"

"Why aren't you confronting Joey about this?" Sunny added, pointing to him.  
"It's his show."

"It's not a show if it's real life," he argued.

"But you're still the one who started it."

"If anyone should be guiding us, it's Mystic," he rebuttaled, pointing in my direction.  
"She let the Cursed God into the franchise."

"Accidentally!" I corrected him in fury.  
"It was an accident!"

"What about Not-Alice?" Taylor suggested.  
"They seem to know more than they're letting on."

"I'm not even part of this fandom," Candy Pop stammered.  
"I just got placed in this body."

"Everyone, quiet please!" Ro exclaimed loudly.  
"This isn't the time or place to argue. Lives are at stake."

More silence. Even I was surprised. I'd never considered her as someone who would take charge, but hey. I've been wrong before.

"She's right," Penelope sighed.  
"I think we should all vote."

That's when I started developing a plan. If I could get myself voted in and choose the person I consider to be the least competent, then I'd be killed and this whole cycle could end!

"Alright," Calliope sighed.  
"How many of us are there?"

She did a headcount. 10 guests from the 1920s, 9 from the Victorian Era, 9 from 1978, Jael, Ryu, Katsumi, herself, Alison, Mortimer, Joey, Candy Pop, Alice/Ciel, Nora, Stella, Taylor, Erica, Tristen, Penelope, Montana, Lisbet, Ines, Briar, Sequoia, Silvia, Dooper, Harlow, Kasey, Sunny, Hazel, Kyrie, Arya, Hyacinthe, Shiloh, Parris, Caelan, Cyrille, Haven, Celeste, Bailey, and myself.

"Sixty-five," she declared.

A shocked gasp rippled amongst us all.

"I brought sixty-five of you into this," I cried.

"You didn't know what you were getting yourself into," Montana assured me gently.  
"We don't blame you for this, and I don't think you should blame yourself either."

"Yeah," Bailey agreed, hugging me.  
"Am not mad at you for this."

"So how do we decide?" Shiloh asked.

"I think we just.....do it," Cyrille gulped.  
"I mean, I don't like it either, but we gotta do what we gotta do."

From out of nowhere, Calliope pulled out sixty-four decks of cards.

"Maybe we should make it sixty-three," Penelope suggested, glaring at me.

"I should have as much of a chance as anyone else," I argued back.

It took what felt like years before I went up, and without hesitation, I handed Calliope the card with my face on it. I sat back down, my heart palpitating wildly. Finally everyone had voted.

"I will now shuffle, and draw two to compete," she announced calmly. 

The majority of us were trembling, but while I was scared, I didn't show it. I'd kinda resigned myself to my fate. Calliope pulled out the first card. 

"Kyrie," she told us.

I looked over. Kyrie was trembling.

"Wh-what? Who voted me in? Caelan?"

"I swear, it wasn't me!" Caelan gasped. 

Calliope didn't answer, instead drawing the second card. 

"Mystic."

I smiled weakly. All I had to do now was choose someone who thought themself incompetent. 

"You may pick your partners," she informed us.  
"Kyrie, you're first."

"I'll pick Eva," she blurted out.

I shrugged.

"I'll pick Justine," I announced.

"WHAT? NO! I'm an idiot," Justine blathered.  
"You don't want me!"

_I mean, I don't think so, but that's kinda why I picked you._

Immediately Penelope stood up.

"Justine, I need to see you for a moment."

Justine, shrugging, got up and followed her.

"Wait, we have to---" I exclaimed.

"This will only take a few minutes," Penelope assured me.

I had a really bad feeling about this.

* * *

They returned five minutes later. Justine looked a bit dazed, and I knew exactly what happened.

"You're sadistic," I whispered angrily to Penelope.  
"Kyrie is gonna die because of you."

She didn't answer. Eva and Kyrie stood up and I stood with Justine, praying that she wouldn't fail me, by failing me. 

"So what now?" I asked.

All of a sudden, Jadis reappeared.

"Well, I expected better," she sniffed.  
"But okay."

With a snap of her fingers, we were off.


	14. When Death Comes Knocking

Opening my eyes, I found myself in the pale moonlight outside facing towards a waterfall with two rivers rapidly racing towards it. I tried to move, but I felt constricted. Looking down, I saw that I'd been tied tightly to a pole, and below me was a large pile of sticks. Under the pile was a fuse that led over to a box with a hole in the top and a lever next to it.

 _Okay,_ I thought.  
 _Guess I'm dying by fire then. Not the worst way to go. Besides I think royal people who broke the law were burnt at the stake._

I looked over to my right and saw Kyrie only about 2 feet away.

"I'm really sorry," I sighed.

She just glared at me and then sighed in response.

"I mean, I guess it had to be someone," she shrugged.  
"But how did I get so unlucky that it was me?"

"Beats me."

"I mean, at least Eva's pretty skilled, so I should have a chance," she smiled.

_Oh, you poor child._

"I voted myself in," I admitted.

"You what?" she nearly shrieked.

I nodded.

"If I die, the Cursed God won't have a reason to go after you all. You'll be able to get the rest of the tokens and defeat him safely."

"And you're sure you know what you're doing?"

I nodded.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure, but on the off-chance that you end up dying, I'm really sorry."

_On the off-chance? You know better than that, dumbass._

She merely shrugged.

"I guess we'll just have to see. I mean, it's anyone's game, right?"

I nodded reluctantly as I watched the waterfall.

* * *

We waited a good fifteen minutes, but all we heard was the water falling. It was falling in such a way that it was almost like it was trying to put us into a trance of our own. 

I felt so guilty about what I knew. Penelope was putting other people's lives at stake just so I wouldn't have to die. I prayed to any deity out there that it wouldn't work, that the trance would fail, that Eva would----

Suddenly someone emerged from the waterfall with a gem in her hand. I thought I saw her pale pink coat, but...

"Mystic, I got it!" Justine exclaimed as she ran against the current.  
"I just need to put the gem in and pull the lever!"

I pursed my lips in regret. If she did that, it'd be all over for Kyrie.

"Justine, don't do it!" I screamed as she ran over to my box quicker than lightning.  
"Get away from there!"

In the back, I could see Eva bursting from the waterfall with a gem, but Justine was so close to mine, in spite of my attempts to deter her. I had to get her up here. 

Focusing on her, I tried to levitate her over, teleport her over, something, ANYTHING! But I hadn't trained enough, and I knew it.

"C'mon, Eva!" Kyrie was yelling tearfully.  
"You can do it! Please. Get me out of here!"

"Damn it, Eva. Get over here!" I cried.  
"Please!"

But it was too late.

Without hesitation, Justine placed the gem in the hole and pulled the lever towards me. We heard a crackling. I looked over to see that Kyrie's fuse had ignited and was moving swiftly towards her pile of sticks below. If Penelope wasn't going to let me die, then I at least needed to save Kyrie.

"Justine, put out the fire!" I screamed.

But she had already stepped out of the river and onto the banks, standing there mindlessly. I turned my attention to Eva who'd stopped at this point.

"Eva, run, damn it!" I yelled.

"I don't want to die!" Kyrie cried out as the fire moved closer. 

She tried to run again. All of a sudden, Justine sprung into action. Like a leopard, she pounced on Eva, fighting against her. I tried to struggle against the bonds.

"What the hell, Justine?" I spat.

All of a sudden, an ear-piercing scream came over me. The flames had gotten to the bottom of Kyrie's feet, burning off her shoes.

"No!" she yelled.  
"I'm not ready to die! I'm not ready!"

Soon enough, the fire sped up, engulfing her legs, her waist, her torso, her chest; her shrieks of agony and fear nearly murdering my ear drums. 

"Stay with me, bud!" I yelled out to her in a fruitless attempt at encouragement.

But once it got to her neck, she let out one final blood-curdling shriek that faded slowly before she was completely engulfed by the flames. I heard a fizzle as she dropped down to the ground, a pile of bloody ashes. 

I was crest-fallen. I didn't even care that my ropes were released as I fell to the grass below me. I felt terrible. Kyrie had thought she had even a small chance of survival, but the odds were stacked against her even before we were teleported here.

"Well done," Jadis told me.

I looked up to see her and the High Priestess.

"It seems that you're much better suited alive than as our vessel," the latter told me before holding out her hand.  
"Here's your prize."

She held out the token. I snatched it up angrily.

"Just....just take us back," I ordered numbly.

With a snap of her fingers, Justine, Eva, and I were teleported back.

* * *

We arrived back at the lair and everyone gasped.

"Oh my God," Lele exclaimed. 

"No," Liza cried.

"What happened?" Sierra gasped.

"Where's Kyrie?" Stella panicked.  
"What happened to her?"

I didn't answer. Justine groaned, seemingly dazed.

"What the hell happened?"

I didn't answer again. I had my eyes locked right on Penelope. I marched right up to her, fire in my fists. Without hesitation, I slammed all of my force into my fist and against her face. She stumbled a bit, taking a few minutes to reorient herself.

"What was that for?" she demanded.

"You're a sadistic manipulative bitch! This is your fault!" I screamed as tears came to my eyes, causing everyone else to jump, but I didn't care. I was the angriest I'd ever been.   
"You hypnotized Justine to make sure I'd win, and now because of that, Kyrie is fucking dead!"

She merely shrugged.

"Someone had to die," she sighed.  
"It's not a big deal."

I was so ready to punch her again.

"I saw her burn. I heard her shriek. You didn't," I roared.  
"You think that's not a big fucking deal? You're playing with life and death! I swear to God, I'm gonna murder you!"

I lunged at her throat, but I felt two people hold me back and drag me to the bed. I struggled against them, not caring who they were.

"Okay, I take back what I said about Nikita," Manny remarked.  
"This bitch looks like she's from the motherfucking  _Exorcist._ "

"Shut up!" I screamed. 

But eventually my anger turned to tears. I really felt like I was in the right for this. Penelope had cheated and because of that, it cost someone's life. 

"It was supposed to be me," I cried, as Ro and Safiya tried to calm me down.  
"I voted myself in."

Everyone, for some reason, was surprised by this, except for Penelope who shrugged.

"I told Calliope we should've made it sixty-three decks, not sixty-four. But did you get the token?"

Anger seared through me. I stood up and launched the token I still gripped in my hand, hitting Penelope in the cheek.

"Take your stupid fucking token!" I hissed through tears.

"Why did you vote for yourself?" Tana asked.

"I wanted to stop this cycle. If I was dead, the Cursed God wouldn't have any reason to go after you all. So you can thank Penelope for keeping you all in danger."

"I was trying to keep you safe!" Penelope lashed back.

"Not at the risk of someone else's life," I panted, running out of energy.

All of a sudden, I heard a crackle and a thunder bolt. Sitting up, I saw that the Coven had returned.

"What the hell do you want?" I snipped.

Evanora, the High Priestess, turned towards me.

"Well, because you're much more useful alive, you're no longer our vessel, but we still need a vessel."

All of a sudden, the lights shut off and everyone began to scream; Ro and Safiya held on tightly to me.

"What the hell is going on?" Candy Pop exclaimed.

"Where are those bitches?" Nikita growled.

"Who's touching me?" Stella panicked.

"That's my hand, sorry," Ines apologized.

"Does anyone else feel like someone's behind them?" Montana quivered.

"Yeah," Cyrille squeaked.  
"Definitely."

We all tried to keep quiet from then on, but moments later, we heard....

"Hey! What the hell? Let go of me! Don't fucking touch me!"

Then another ear-piercing scream and a thud to the floor. The lights came back on and we saw the coven smiling.

"It's too bad about those stab marks," Jadis sighed.

"We can always heal her up, but we have what we came for," Evanora shrugged.  
"Hopefully we'll see you never."

As the Coven began to fade away, we all looked around the ground, trying to find whoever we were missing. Stella was the first to break the silence.

"Oh my God," she squeaked.

We all turned to find the corpse fading away, but we could still tell that Cyrille had been the next life taken. 


	15. Peace At Last?

We were just.....numb. Dumbfounded. They just said only one of us was gonna die, right? 

I couldn't feel anger anymore. I couldn't even feel sad. I was.....I was just shocked.

"And now that that's out of the way," a malicious voice purred.

All of a sudden, I felt a hand wrap around my neck and I was dragged against Nagito's chest. He stroked my hair again, using one finger at a time.

"I do hope you'll be a sweet girl to me, as I've heard you are," he whispered in my ear.  
"Because if not, I would have to use........reinforcements; and that is something I certainly don't want to do, especially to such a pretty and innocent face like yours."

His hand migrated to my forehead and a chill ran through me. I began to feel sick.

"Get away from her!" another voice yelled.

We all turned; once again, it was the Cursed God.

"She's my bride."

"Oh really?" Nagito asked sarcastically.  
"I didn't know. But then again, it doesn't seem like she wants to be your bride."

_Nor do I want to be yours, jackass._

"I claimed her long before you were even born!" he growled.  
"Hand her over."

He took 

"No. I don't want to do that. I don't think I'd like to lose my precious Nadine, not now, not ever," he chuckled as he backed up towards the gunpowder before striking a match; I began struggling against him.  
"But you want her all to yourself too, don't you? Well then, if I can't have her, then no one can!"

He threw the match into the gunpowder, tripped into it, and held me tightly.

"What the hell are you doing?" I yelled as I fought against him.

"What does it look like?" he laughed maniacally.  
"Two forbidden lovers, dying in each others arms."

And then, he pulled me in and locked lips with me. I struggled against him, but he was determined to keep me locked on, that is until Sally came over and bashed him over the head. 

"No one taints our cute little flower and gets away with it," she exclaimed as she hugged me tightly. 

I struggled against her, kicking her in the shin, which caused her to let go. I ran over to Ro and Safiya.

"Let's go!" I screamed.

Everyone began to run as the guests formed a circle around me, trying to keep me from being taken. I heard a few screams and cries of "Let me go!" but I had to keep moving. Those explosives would go off at any second.

Once we made it up to the main floor, we found the rest of the ballerinas, and Manon who was in a wheelchair (how they got it I have no clue)

"Vite! Vite!" Adeline ordered them.

We all ran outside, far from the opera house and we heard a massive explosion. The opera house burst into flames.

"Alright, who's not dead? Sound off," Jesse ordered.

All 28 of the guests were safe. Joey was safe. So were Mortimer, Alison, and Calliope. Jael and Ryu had made it out okay. So had Katsumi, Nora, Stella, Dooper, Tristen, Celeste, Penelope, Erica, Candy Pop, Alice/Ciel, Taylor, Kasey, Sunny, Montana, Lisbet, Hazel, Ines, Sequoia, Harlow, Caelan, Shiloh, Arya, Hyacinthe, Briar, Parris, Sparkle, Silvia.....

Had luck shifted in our favor? Even if it was just once?

"They almost snapped my neck," Briar shivered.

"Who did?" Arya trembled.

"I couldn't see who it was."

"I didn't sign up for this shit!" Caelan whimpered frightened.  
"I just wanted to write stories and whatnot, not actually be a part of this killing game!"

"Okay," Parris announced.  
"I get that we're all REALLY shaken up about this, but right now the best thing we can do is move forward. And yet, before we do that, I think we deserve to relax a bit, if we can. I say we do a bit of sight-seeing and letting things just cool down for a bit before trying to find the next token."

"Relax? How are we supposed to do that?" Hyacinthe huffed.  
"The Cursed God'll be on our trail."

I sighed, reaching under the costume I still had on, and pulled out the bag of teastones. I pulled one out.

"I wish that, for the time being, we could be undetected by the Cursed God or any of his lackeys."

Golden glow and then I let the dust fall into the bag.

"See?" Parris smiled.  
"Hakuna Matata."

"Careful," Briar joked.  
"Disney might be watching."

I took out another teastone.

"I wish Kyrie and Cyrille would come back to life."

Instead of the usual golden glow, I got nothing. I tried again.

"I wish Kyrie and Cyrille would come back to life."

Still nothing.

"What the hell?"

Penelope sighed, somehow still able to be nice to me even after the hell I put her through.

"Mystic...." she said calmly, putting a hand on my shoulder.  
"It won't work."

"No," I denied pushing her away.  
"No, it's gotta work!"

I pulled out another.

"I wish Kyrie and Cyrille would come back to life!"

"Mystic!"

"No, it's gotta work, damn it!" I yelled into the stone.  
"Damn it, bring them back!"

I dropped to the ground coughing as tears streamed down my face.

"Bring them back!"

Penelope knelt down beside me, and rubbed my back.

"The stones can't bring the dead back," she sighed.  
"I'm sorry, Mystic."

There were a few moments of silence as I tried to calm myself, but eventually, I ended up crying in Penelope's arms.

"Shh," she shushed.  
"I know it hurts."

Rosanna and Safiya knelt down beside us as well. We were like that for a good minute before Adeline spoke up.

"Um, I'm afraid zat sitting in ze streets is not ze best place to comfort a friend."

Of course they weren't. Sighing we stood up and hugged it out.

"I'm sorry, Penelope," I choked.

"There's no need to be sorry. You're letting your feelings out."

There was a long silence as we broke away.

"Okay, so where do we relax?" Arya asked impatiently once my composure was back.  
"I could really use somewhere awesome."

Wiping away the tears, this was when the gears of my mind began to work at their top speed. I felt responsible for all of this. The least I could do was provide them with somewhere amazing. I pulled out a teastone. 

"I wish......" I began.

They didn't get to hear the rest. All of a sudden, we were all slowly enveloped in a warm glow of golden light. Quickly letting the dust drop into the bag, I shut it and stuffed it under the dress again as the warm began to close in around us, washing a sense of serenity over us, almost like when you're slowly putting your face underwater in a pool. It gradually closed up into a bubble of light, obscuring us from Paris. 

It was as though my very soul was being cleansed of the heartache I'd put it through, poor thing. And it only seemed a second before the golden light began to sink into the ground. A cool, light air brushed through us as it revealed a large garden hedge. The trickling of a fountain could be heard nearby. We were standing on a small cul-de-sac, but that wasn't the main attraction.

Instead it was the grand hotel.


End file.
